


Lights All Faded

by IndigoRae



Series: Hint of Fear [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-13 05:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1215193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndigoRae/pseuds/IndigoRae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Getting ahead of yourself only gets people hurt."</p>
<p>It's a hard lesson to learn, but it's a mistake she'll never make again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Impala kicks up dirt and gravel as Dean slams on the breaks. Eva’s jeep is parked a few yards away, and Dean can tell it’s empty.

So much for waiting. Guess that's what happens when your only form of communication for a week and a half is a two minute phone conversation and a couple of email messages.

“Let’s go.”

Sam is quick to follow, sticking close on his brother’s heels. They dig around in the trunk and Dean tosses him a taser.

“What have you got these amped up to?”

“One thousand volts.”

“Damn...”

“Yeah, I want this rawhead fried up extra friggin’ crispy.”

Sam knows it’s more than that now; Eva’s in there, and they have no way of knowing whether she’s alright or not. One of these days, they really should stop telling her about their hunts. This time, Sam couldn’t really blame her for not waiting -- this time, there were kids somewhere inside the house. There’s no way Eva would sit by for that.

Silently the brothers move toward the house, the tall grass in the yard swishing around their legs. The door is partially open, so they slip inside and turn on their flashlights, eyes everywhere for any sign of Eva or the missing kids.

It’s not until they reach the basement that they find Eva, crouched low in a corner, flashlight off. When she realizes it’s the boys, she pushes to her feet and approaches them.

“Thought you were it,” She huffs out, pushing her hair out of her face. “The kids are over there in that cabinet.”

The boys look where she points, and she continues as they head over.

“I was just about to get them out of here when I heard footsteps. Couldn’t risk handing them right back to that freak, so I left ‘em in there until I knew it was safe.”

Dean pulls the doors open and looks at the kids. Young, frightened... he has to get them out.

“Alright, come on. Sam’s gonna get you out of here. Come on, hurry!”

They stumble out of the cabinet, following Sam to the stairs. He urges them ahead of him then follows, taking the steps two at a time. Before he reaches the top, something grabs his ankle and pulls him down to the floor.

“Sam!”

Dean and Eva try to shoot the thing, but it’s hard to see in the darkness. Neither makes contact. Sam’s on his feet again, heading back to the stairs, this time watching closely for any signs of the thing.

“Here, take this!”

He tosses Dean his taser and heads out with the kids.

Dean and Eva intend to stay close together, but still manage to put a few feet of space between them. Eva’s not sure when it happens. She just looks up and he’s gone. Suddenly she’s on the other side of the basement, where there’s even less light than before.

Something rustles behind her and she turns. Her flashlight comes up, lighting up a hairy face that’s anything but human. She yelps and jumps back. Instantly her taser is discharged, but the thing pushes her before it can make contact. She stumbles back and it charges her, pushing her even harder than the first time.

A sharp pain pierces her side, she hits her head on something. And everything goes dark.

______

“Dean..?”

Eva’s hands scramble around for a flashlight. She must have dropped it when she fell, but it couldn’t have gone far.

She pushes herself up on her knees, blinking a couple times. Her hand lands in something warm and sticky. She doesn’t take the time to think about what it is.

“Dean..!”

She finds him lying on the floor in the corner. The creature isn’t far away, but it’s not moving. Did Dean kill it? She takes a closer look, sees the taser in his hand. And that’s when her own hand lands in a puddle of water.

“Oh no...” She murmurs, feeling around. Sure enough, Dean’s laying in the cold liquid.

“No no no...” She turns toward the door. “Sam!”

She screams until she’s hoarse, but still she hears no sound of Sam returning. Where is he? How long does it take to get a couple of kids into the car?

Eva pries the taser out of Dean’s hand and tosses it away. With one arm around his shoulders, she pulls him close to her and lays his head on her knees. He’s barely breathing.

Where the hell is Sam?

She doesn’t know what to do. She can’t lift him, but she doesn’t want to leave him there to go find Sam. She has to do something, but what would be the better option?

She screams some more.

______

When Sam returns, his first thought is that Dean and Eva are both unconscious. He drops to his knees beside them and Eva stirs.

“Sam..? We have to get Dean out of here.”

Sam takes in the scene with one quick glance, knows exactly what the situation is and what must’ve happened.

“Can you walk?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me; take care of Dean.”

Sure enough, Eva pushes herself to her feet and follows Sam as he carries his brother outside and to the car. He settles him into the backseat while Eva heads to the Jeep. They both know where they’re headed next, don’t even need to talk about it.

______

Eva sits in a chair absently picking at the bandage on her right side. As it turns out, that warm sticky stuff she laid her hand in back at the house was blood. Her blood. When that freak had pushed her, apparently it knocked her into something sharp. She’s half tempted to go back to the house and search for any sharp objects that may have her blood on them just for clarification’s sake.

But that’s only to distract her from the real issue, the real reason why they’re still in the hospital.

“We were taking a shortcut through the neighborhood and we had the windows rolled down,” Sam’s filling in a local cop, “We heard the screams, ran in and found the kids.”

“Well thank God you did.” The man looks at him with something like awe. “Those kids would probably be dead right now if you hadn’t.”

Eva snorts and the cop looks up.

“Please, ignore her. It’s been a long day, and she’s worried about my brother.”

“Of course, I understand.”

A doctor steps out of Dean’s room and Eva stands. Sam excuses himself from the cop and joins her to hear the doctor’s report.

“He’s resting.” Is all the man offers.

“And..?”

“The electrocution triggered a massive heart attack. His heart, it’s... it’s damaged.”

“How damaged?”

Eva’s afraid to ask, but Sam apparently isn’t. Surely he must know what the doctor is saying?

“We’ve done all we can. We can try to keep him comfortable, but I’d give him a couple weeks at most. Maybe a month.”

“A month? That’s not good enough! There has to be something you can do!”

The doctor looks at Eva, eyes softening just a little. He’s had to give a lot of families this kind of news, and it never gets easier. And this guy, this Dean... he’s young enough to be the doctor’s son, and here he is dying. And for what? For helping a couple of kids? He saves their lives, and now he’s going to die?

Sometimes life just doesn’t make sense.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Eva doesn’t look up when Sam leaves the room. She’s had her nose stuck in a book for the last hour. He doesn’t know what she’s reading, but it’s a fair bet she’s trying to find something to save Dean.

Sam himself has been doing the same, pouring through his dad’s journal. But now he’s going to see Dean.

Eva shuts the book with a heavy sigh. There’s nothing in it that can help Dean.

She looks up and realizes that Sam’s gone. Probably went to see his brother. Standing, she drops her book into the bag at her feet before picking it up and leaving the room. She passes doctors and nurses outside the waiting room, but she doesn’t even look at them. They all look up as she walks by, but none speak to her or try to stop her.

Outside, she stops in the courtyard a few feet from the door and digs around in her bag, searching frantically until her fingers land on her phone. She drops her bag onto a bench as she dials a number.

_“Eva?”_

“Kari...”

With just that one word, Kari knows.

_“Hey, it’s okay. Whatever it is, we can take care of it, alright? Now tell me what’s happening.”_

Eva blinks a couple times. She’s always surprised that Kari can tell when something’s wrong. But that’s why she calls her, isn’t it? Because she always knows, and can help make it right.

“It’s Dean, Kari. He’s... he’s hurt bad. Doctors aren’t...” She can’t even say it. “It’s bad, sis.”

Kari takes a deep breath. She knew it had to be something like that, to have Eva so upset. But like she said, they’d deal with it.

_“Well, what do the doctors know, anyway? We’ve seen stuff they’d never believe in their wildest dreams. We can figure this out. Have you called anyone else yet? You should try Elena. Or ring Danny’s friend, Carter. One of them should know something.”_

Eva nods even though Kari can’t see her.

“You’re right. You’re _right_. We can do this. Who cares what the doctor says -- he doesn’t know what we do.” She digs around in her bag and comes up with a small leather-bound book. “Alright, I’ll start calling. Thanks, Kari.”

_“Hey, what are big sisters for? Call me if you need anything else, okay? And let me know when you guys get Dean back on his feet. We’ll go out for burgers or something, alright?”_

Eva’s laugh is a little shaky, but Kari doesn’t mention it. She knows her little sister is trying to be strong, even while this is tearing her apart.

And she’ll be damned if she’s gonna make things harder for her.

______

The next three days pass in a blur. At least, Sam thinks it’s been three days. At this point, he isn’t really sure anymore. Every waking moment is the same as the last; pouring over dad’s journal, making phone calls and looking for anyone or anything that can help Dean.

Eva’s been there the whole time, constantly on the phone and pouring through her own books as well. She’s the queen of multitasking; she holds the phone with her shoulder, one hand busy holding a book open while the other is frantically tapping away at her laptop. She’s as freaked about Dean as Sam is.

But something tells him there’s more to it than that.

He watches her from his place on the bed. Her eyes flick between the book and the laptop screen, and she’s talking quietly to someone on the phone. She doesn’t seem to be having much luck with whoever she’s on with. After awhile she drops the phone onto the table, using her keyboard hand to press a couple buttons on it before pushing it aside. The sigh that escapes her is a bit ragged. Sam stands up.

“Hey, why don’t you take a break?” He moves to stand by the table. “You’re going to wear yourself out like this.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re barely holding it together.”

She doesn’t answer that. He goes back to watching her in silence for a moment, but as she reaches for the phone again he snatches it off the table.

“I know what this is about, Eva.” He starts gently. “You can’t blame yourself.”

“Who says I’m blaming myself?”

“You’re killing yourself. Guilt is killing you. But it wasn’t your fault, and you need to let it go before it breaks you.”

“Sam, I’m fine. I’m not breaking, and I hate to say it, but I’m not the one dying. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like my phone back so I can make another call.”

She reaches out for it but he holds it above his head.

“Sam...”

“Not until you admit that this is more than you say it is.”

“Sam, give me the damn phone.”

“Only after you-”

“Dammit, Sam!” He blinks a couple times, surprised. “I can’t, okay? I just can’t.”

She slams her laptop closed and stands up from the table. He follows her as she moves to the bed and sits down, and he wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close.

“This isn’t your fault, Eva.” He whispers. “You have to believe that.”

“How? How can I? If I had just waited for you guys, if I hadn’t rushed in without thinking of the consequences-”

“That’s what makes you a good hunter.” Sam interrupts. “You knew those kids were in danger, and you didn’t hesitate to go in. You threw yourself at the enemy to save them.”

“What I did cost Dean his life.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes I do.” Eva pulls away and stands up. “If I hadn’t been there, you guys wouldn’t have rushed in like that. You would’ve been more prepared, and Dean wouldn’t have gotten caught off guard. I screwed up, Sam. Your brother is dying, and it’s all my fault.”

Sam closes his eyes for a minute. He can hear Eva’s breathing, harsh and ragged. His own is remarkably calm.

“You don’t know that this wouldn’t have happened without you. Regardless of whether or not you were there, the outcome would probably be the same.”

“Probably...” Eva scoffs. “You don’t know that for sure.”

Sam kicks himself for not choosing his words more carefully. He should’ve known she’d pick them apart. He knows nothing he can say will change her mind, so for the moment, he gives up. He’ll try again later.

“I’m gonna go grab a shower before we go back to the hospital.”

Eva doesn’t answer him, doesn’t even look up as he grabs a bag and heads for the bathroom. Once he’s gone she lies down on the bed and stares at the ceiling. When she sits up again, her eyes skim past her reflection in the mirror. She doesn’t let her gaze linger; she knows she probably looks terrible. And she doesn’t care now. She’s got a job to do.

When she hears the shower water turn on, she glances around the room quickly, spotting the phone on the table by Sam’s bed. She grabs it up and flips it open, glancing at the bathroom door again as she scrolls through the contact list until she finds what she’s looking for. There’s still one last thing she hasn’t tried...

 


End file.
